


The Last Gallifreyans

by embarrassingresultofmyfreetime



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Other, angsty but very soft fic where the Master acquires a baby and is basically ride or die, he's very worn out, mentions of the Master's daughter, oc baby!!, someone please hug this man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 04:56:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29994234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embarrassingresultofmyfreetime/pseuds/embarrassingresultofmyfreetime
Summary: The Master has acquired something very special that he will go to any lengths to protect.
Relationships: The Doctor & The Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor & The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	The Last Gallifreyans

The front door to the Master's Tardis clicked ever so softly open.

It had been parked in the same spot for a while- too long in fact- and the Doctor was there to investigate why. She guessed it had been abandoned there when the Master had left to enact his latest grand scheme involving the Cybermen, Gallifrey, and an incredibly dangerous weapon of mass destruction. Still, the strange way the living ship towered alone in the empty field caused her to wonder if there might be something more at play.

The heavy slab of faux-wood slowly creaked open to reveal a dark room. The daylight outside cut through the dark like a blade as a long sliver of sun stretched across the floor from the Doctor's feet to the center of the room.

No inch of the Tardis moved to welcome her as she entered. There was no hum of the idle engines, no whirl of the pistons, simply _nothing_. It was eerie to see a living Tardis this deathly silent.

The Doctor's boots on the floor made the only noise to be heard, and the only reply was the sound of the walls echoing her steps back to her. No lights blinked to life as she entered- despite the fact that any Tardis would normally rise to greet a possible pilot.

The Doctor had no idea what to make of it.

She was about to announce herself when the small tap of metal hitting metal reached her ears from a distant corner of the room.

"Not a step closer," a low, deep, and perfectly level voice breathed.

The Doctor turned to face the sound, only to be met with the dim green-blue haze of a blaster and the low whirl as it powered-up, readily prepared to fire.

"I said: **not a step closer** ," the voice repeated in a carefully moderated and flat tone.

The Doctor's eyes hadn't fully adjusted yet, and therefore she couldn't yet identify the figure through the dark. However she could see a small flash of movement as the figure shifted and recognized the voice behind the threat.

"Master? What are you-"

"Shh!" he quickly scolded.

The Doctor pressed her palm over her mouth as a subtle reminder and then pulled it away again and whispered.

"Why?"

The Master took a careful, deep breath before replying.

"Make a sound louder than my voice or take another step toward me- and I shoot you until you regenerate," he replied with deceptive calmness and without answering her question.

The Doctor raised her hands and held them open for the Master to see. There was something in his exhausted voice that made it clear this was nonnegotiable.

"Have it your way," the Doctor whispered harshly. "Mind telling me what this is all about?"

She took a small step, the metal floor creaked beneath her- the Master shot at her feet. The sharp blast of green illuminated the room as it sparked to the ground and narrowly missed the Doctor's boots.

The Doctor's expression pressed together in annoyance. She didn't know this him as well as she had known versions of him in the past- but she _had_ spent quite a lot of time with him when he was playing as the human O.

She _knew_ him- and despite his jokes, he wasn't usually this quick to be intimidated.

"Don't. Move." he demanded shakily.

The Doctor squinted through the dark, her nose scrunched up as she tried to get a better look at him. It looked as though he was sitting in a chair in the far corner, with a blanket half-over himself.

The Doctor attempted to piece together what this meant.

Was he injured? Is that why he didn't want her to see him?

But where did his surroundings factor in? Why was his Tardis so quiet? Why did he sound so... scared?

"How long has it been, for you?" the Doctor asked.

The Master slowly set the gun down onto the table next to him. His hands trembled as the item clattered to rest.

"Since Gallifrey?" he spat. "Since you were too much of a coward to kill me yourself? Since you let some weak, pathetic human activate the most devastating weapon in existence because, despite your _high horse_ , you'd rather _run_ than do what you know should be done?" the Master hissed angrily.

He then took a long, quavering breath, and forced his body to steady despite the rage overtaking him.

He finally replied, sounding disappointed and- dare she say- deeply hurt.

". _..Four days._ "

The Doctor could better see his figure now as her eyes adjusted to the dark. The Master's head was hung and the details of his distant eyes came into focus. He sat nearly motionlessly, so exhausted that he limited his movements as not to expel the very little energy he had left. He collected himself for a moment before he reached for the blaster once more and subsequently aimed its barrel for the Doctor.

"Get out," he demanded.

The Doctor looked down at the floor and shook her head in dismay.

She was disappointed too. She should have been able to handle everything better. She should have known the Master would escape anyway.

And now, because she ran, there was no repairing this. Wasn't that always the way with them? With her always running and only realizing her mistake after the fact?

Movement suddenly caught the Doctor's eye once more. The tiniest squirm from the corner of her eye caused the Master to set the gun down again and reach for the blankets at his shoulder. His right hand quickly joined his left and he turned too far to the side for the Doctor to see what he was doing.

He whispered something too quiet for the Doctor to hear. Whatever it was, it was almost too gentle and soothing to sound like the Master at all. His words were soft, almost like a song, almost like the Gallifreyan words of old.

While he was distracted, the Doctor took another curious step closer and-

The Master's hand flew to the weapon as the floor creaked beneath the Doctor's steps. His left arm protectively shielded whatever was at his shoulder and his right hand focused the weapon squarely on the Doctor.

"Don't make me kill you," he threatened angrily through gritted teeth. "I honestly don't want to," he nearly chuckled, "but I will."

The Doctor smirked and took another small step. If she could only reach him, she could disarm him and balance the conversation.

"Kill me, and you'll have to deal with my regenerative process. I don't think you want that happening here and now in your Tardis."

The Master gritted his teeth.

The Doctor might call this a stalemate- but _he was in no mood to negotiate_.

"You're right," he said as he pulled the trigger anyway.

His aim shifted down to the Doctor's leg at the last second and shot across the outside of her left leg. The Doctor immediately collapsed in pain and crashed to the ground with a grimace.

The Master sighed.

The Doctor looked to the site of the injury to find only burn rather than anything severe. The Master must have had the blaster on a setting far lower than its full potential.

"I've given you more than enough warnings," the Master threatened as he slowly and carefully moved to stand up. He stared the Doctor down from where she was sat on the floor. He blatantly clicked the dial on his weapon up several notches.

The next time he fired, the ray would inflict a lot more than a minor burn.

The expression on his face was difficult to read, but among the mix the Doctor could see that he was somehow undoubtedly terrified and unconcerned all at once. He looked like someone ready to stop at nothing for his cause- even knowing he might pay the ultimate price- and was already at peace with the decision.

"This isn't like you," the Doctor hissed. She was annoyed, but more than anything she was concerned. The Master was usually quite the predictable person. Nothing good ever came from him breaking that pattern.

He would never hurt her directly without a very good reason.

"Not like me? You have no idea what I'm like anymore," the Master simply scoffed.

The Doctor could hear the tears clog up his throat as they threatened to flood his eyes.

Her own hearts ached at the tightness in his voice. Her angry expression quickly fell away.

Now this _really_ wasn't like him.

Had their last encounter really crossed that much of a line?

What was all of this? What did it actually mean? What was he acting this way for?

"What are you trying to hide?" she questioned sternly.

The Master aimed for her once more as he walked in a slow arc through the darkness in front of her. He paced with only his right side to her as he headed deeper into the Tardis.

The Doctor could see him better now that he had moved closer to the cut of light beaming in from the half-shut doorway.

More specifically, the Doctor could now see that he was certainly holding something.

"Leave. I won't ask again," the Master demanded as the blaster whirled to life once more.

"Tell me what you're hiding, and I'll leave," the Doctor met his tone.

The Master let out a sharp, defensive breath.

"It's of no threat to Earth- I'll tell you that much. That's what you want to know- isn't it?" he spat, "That planet is all you care about."

The Doctor could hear the raw pain in his voice.

She more fully identified the exhaustion in his tone. It sounded... like he'd been crying already.

The Doctor tilted her head curiously.

There was something about all of this that was different. There was no song and dance, no bad jokes and fake laughs; only single-minded drive.

She hadn't seen this level of focus in him since....

"You're protecting something," she observed. "Something important to you."

The Master visibly flinched. The weapon in his hand flicked sharply as the muscles in his fingers betrayed him.

There was no hiding it. She had struck a nerve. The only clear thing through the dark.

The Master loved chaos and danger, loved risks and games, but he wasn't even allowing _her_ \- _the Doctor_ of all people- within 10 steps of him. He was up and moving- clearly uninjured- which meant that he was certainly protecting something he deemed more important than himself. Something... fragile.

"I told you: I won't ask again. **Get out** ," he snapped at her.

The Doctor shifted to sit innocently on the ground. She did her best to show that she wasn't about to pull any risky stunts, she would only sit right there, a safe distance away.

"Just talk to me. Tell me what you're holding," she requested.

The Master took a sharp step back.

" **You're not taking her from me** ," he nearly shouted all too quickly, each word forceful and absolute; as if they had already been trapped in his mind for a while, all too well-rehearsed, before they finally found the opportunity to be spoken aloud.

The Doctor blinked in surprise.

"Her?" she asked curiously.

The Master ducked away and shut his eyes for a brief second. He felt safer in the entrance of the large open hall leading deeper into his silent ship. Safer to put more distance between the item in his arms, and the outside world.

He pulled his left arm up to more fully cover whatever he was holding and kept his weapon trained on the ground as he used his forearm to adjust the position.

He took another breath and let his right hand- still holding the weapon- lower to his side. It took him a moment to force himself to calm down.

Finally, he replied.

"When I destroyed Gallifrey, I went for the hearts," he admitted quietly. His eyes stared off in the distance and he remained partially turned away from the Doctor.

"I took out the Citadel first, which housed all the worst offenders. The High Council in particular, as well as every other pompous figure who oppressed the people like us and terrorized this universe.

But it wasn't..." he paused briefly to search for the word, "-systematic."

He continued more forcefully,

"I was angry and hurt, so I decided to hurt them in the order they hurt us. I targeted everything I could think of, every _one_ I could think of."

He turned away further so the Doctor couldn't see his face as be continued,

"What I didn't know about was all the **hidden** projects. All the things they kept from even **us**. I should have known there was more. There's always more."

He sighed.

There was a long minute of silence as the Doctor waited patiently for him to continue.

"They had a secret lab," he said quietly, shakily.

"- where they were trying to loom **better** Time Lords. Stronger, smarter, more loyal- ... you name it."

He shook his head.

"We were all experiments for the cause. We were all soldiers, waiting to serve. When we grew up and were smart enough to run away-"

The Master paused.

He was on the brink of crying all over again. He brushed the back of his right sleeve to the silent tears preparing to fall.

"They decided to make more... Doctor. Or... rather they tried, anyways. They... were in the process of making _so many more_...."

He shook his head, trying to clear away the terrible images. He continued firmly,

"I was right to do what I did. I knew I had to stop them- and I hadn't known the extent of it."

He abruptly turned to look at her, his features twisted in agony.

"I thought it was all gone when I scanned for signs of life- but I didn't account for the people which weren't properly living yet. All the experiments locked away in chambers of synthetic matter...."

He shook his head.

"Y-You don't know what it was like. It was... _buildings and buildings_ of altered looms, hidden underground, filled with scientists trying to make the perfect soldiers for Gallifrey. Trying to...."

He scoffed.

"Trying to recreate someone like you- except who would be infallibly loyal to Gallifrey."

He shook his head more fiercely, frustrated.

"All this time they called me a failed experiment, broken, diseased- and their grand plan was to make someone **just like us.** "

He stared off to the side, done with his explanation, with a small laugh at the sheer irony of it all.

The Doctor waited... but that still didn't answer her question.

A long, long minute passed.

The Master's breathing slowed once again as he leaned to one of the walls for support.

The Doctor finally spoke up again, and braced herself for the answer.

"So what are you holding?" she asked softly.

The Master sighed, slow and reluctant. It took him a long moment to convince himself to share the truth.

"I... suppose you could say she's the last Gallifreyan," the Master admitted.

He turned to show the Doctor his left side for the first time that evening. He carefully pulled back the small corner of blanket at his shoulder to uncover the soft features of a tiny face. Two small shut eyes, a nose, puffy cheeks, and tiny lips peaked out from beneath a hat. One tiny, _tiny_ hand locked, best it could, onto a pinch of fabric from the Master's coat.

Sure enough, the Master was holding a baby.

The Doctor's eyes widened.

"I don't know the details of what the scientists were doing to them," he elaborated. "Every other twisted project had stopped developing long before I found the facility.

This child... was the only one who survived the process and was able to properly develop. The only one to make it long enough to breathe real air."

His dark, haunted eyes flickered to the Doctor for a brief second.

"I couldn't leave her there," he confessed sadly.

The Doctor nodded solemnly. She truly had no idea how to respond to that. With everything else the Master had uncovered about the Time Lords, she couldn't even say she was surprised.

"What are you going to do with her?" the Doctor asked.

The Master remained quiet for a minute- but when he finally responded, it was with a steady confidence.

"I'm keeping her," he announced, unequivocally.

"Someone has to take care of her now, and I'm best equipped for the job. I'm like her, and I can keep her safe. I won't fail this time. I'll do whatever it takes to protect her."

The Doctor faltered at the words 'this time'.

She had no doubt his mind was thinking of his daughter, however the Doctor hadn't heard the Master bring up his daughter in... lifetimes.

She wondered if the Master had meant to say that part out loud. If not, he hadn't noticed it slip. He was clearly in no shape for this and the Doctor could only guess that his mind was too distant to notice.

His daughter had been a casualty of the time war and... the Master had always blamed himself for not being able to protect her. It was something they had never spoken about since.

"Then let me help you," the Doctor found herself offering.

For a single, brief second, the Doctor saw a flash of something far younger in the Master's eyes. Something from long ago; from back when they had both been young and living on Gallifrey, before their fights, before the war, back when the Master had been a parent to a daughter of his own.

He had loved her so much, kept her safe, made sure she had gotten time to be young and have fun despite the harsh social pressures put onto the shoulders of Time Lords. The Master had done everything right as best he could, been caring and patient, been protective but understanding. He apologized when he messed up and learned from it.

The Doctor had met his daughter on a good many occasions. She... had been a smart one. She died long before her time. She'd had so many lives ahead of her, all cut far too short...

She didn't deserve what happened to her.

The Doctor choked on a few tears of her own as the Master turned away and pressed his face to the tiny shoulder of the child safely resting in his arms, bundled up in the softest blanket he could find on such short notice. He held her a little tighter, but was careful that his large hands and strong arms didn't crush the tiny sleeping creature.

"I won't let you take her from me," the Master threatened once more, aloud, to the Doctor-

But more so to the universe. To the cruel, uncaring powers that had taken everyone else he'd ever cared about from him. As if this was some kind of promise that he wouldn't allow the same fate to befall this young soul sleeping soundly in his arms.

He would fight the whole of existence for this child- the Doctor could see it in his eyes. He had taken up this task as his mission, and he would sooner die than fail at it again.

"I won't," the Doctor promised wholeheartedly.

The Master glared at her once more.

"You had better make sure you mean that," he said, his tone growing in confidence.

There he was, all fire and brimstone. This was much more like him.

The Doctor was almost relieved to see that familiarity shine through.

"If you so much as _touch_ her without my _explicit permission_ , it will be **the _last_ thing _anyone_ on this planet _ever_ does**. Is that clear?"

The Doctor found herself smiling a little.

"I understand. Don't touch the baby," the Doctor assured him.

The Master nodded, and allowed his muscles to relax ever so slightly. He let himself lean to the wall for support and nodded thoughtfully to himself.

The Doctor almost felt bad for the old soul.

"I shouldn't say this," the Master said softly as he allowed his eyes to shut and catch a moment of rest while leaning to the wall for support.

"But I thought, just maybe, if you killed us, I would get to see my daughter again."

His breathing sped up slightly and he did his best to tame it. He was clearly failing, but holding the tiny child in his arm, the gentle weight sleeping against his shoulder, helped to ground him.

He forced his body to settle.

"Everyone who mattered would be there, and we could pretend that none of it happened. That would have been enough for me."

Tears splashed from his half closed eyes and dipped head to splatter onto the cold floor.

"But I get it now. There's still more for me to do first. I won't mess up this time. I-

I'll do it **right** this time."

The Doctor took a deep breath and picked herself up off the floor.

She wanted to tell him that what happened wasn't his fault, but she didn't want to tear at his old scars. He would never believe it anyhow. He would never forgive himself for what had happened to his last child.

"What will you do with her?" the Doctor asked gently, providing him an out.

The Master took it.

"Give her a home.

I'll tell her she's a little different- that she's more special than most... but I'll make sure she knows that's an _amazing_ thing.

No one will ever call her an experiment, or diseased, or broken.

She'll just be a person- and I'll show her the universe."

He paused to collect his thoughts.

"And..." the Master let out a deep breath.

"I'll lie," he decided. "She'll never have to know about Gallifrey. She'll never know the word. It will just be some dead planet on a map."

The Doctor nodded slowly.

She soon climbed to her feet, but didn't approach him.

"Let me help you," she offered.

The Master shook his head.

"No. Absolutely not. I've seen what happens to your humans. I know how wreckless you can be. She's much too young to partake in your adventures."

The Doctor only chuckled.

"Not that. I mean, let me help- just for today.

You look exhausted. I'll watch her-"

"No. No, you won't touch her-" the Master backed away another step.

The Doctor rolled her eyes.

"Okay! Okay."

The Doctor sighed.

"How about we find a spare room, and you lay down- holding the baby of course-" she quickly added, "and I will stay nearby and make sure you're both alright.

I'll help guard her, for the time being," she offered.

The Master contemplated this for a moment, but slowly complied.

"Okay," he agreed reluctantly. Not because he wanted too, but because he knew it was for the best. "I... _have_ been too worried to sleep, I don't want to drop her by mistake or crush her somehow and... I can't leave her unattended. There's still a chance I wasn't thorough enough with everything on Gallifrey and someone will try to take her-"

"Okay," the Doctor agreed as she attempted to calm his frantic mind.

The Master quieted and nodded.

"I'm going to walk over to you now, okay?" the Doctor asked softly.

He nodded and the Doctor finally approached to pull the weapon from his hand. She safely cast it aside and kept her distance as the Master led the way down the hall to a nearby room. His eyes were already half closed in exhaustion and the Doctor did her best not to startle him nor wake the baby as she prepared the room for him.

"Did you name her?" the Doctor asked as she prepared a mound of blankets and pillows for him on the bed.

She moved them around unconventionally so that the Master could lay his body down, but keep his head and upper back propped up enough that the baby could stay safely at his shoulder.

She was so, so tiny. Barely a couple kilograms wrapped in blankets patterned with white clouds on a bright blue sky and a bright yellow hat atop her head. All the while, the Master refused to let her go.

The Doctor didn't bother asking if she could hold the child for a minute so he could have a break. She already knew the answer was no.

"I've... been calling her Zeeya," the Master said quietly, his eyes somewhere else in the distance. "There was a story I used to tell to... my... I suppose I could say my other d-daughter," he managed to choke out, despite how difficult it was for him to say, "how strange is that?"

He chuckled lightly to himself before clearing his throat and continuing, "It was about a powerful and brilliant warrior who had learned to wield light itself. She was associated with life and luck and skill."

He let out a small breath, "It was something of a fairytale really, just a bedtime story, but I thought it would be rather fitting; for someone who cheated death.

...I think it might stick."

"Little baby Zee," the Doctor chuckled. "I like it."

"I don't care," the Master stated grumpily as he sat down on the bed and carefully leaned back against the support of the numerous pillows and rolled up blankets.

The Doctor only smiled to herself as the Master settled into place.

"Wake me up if you leave," the Master mumbled, his eyes already closed," -even for a minute. Someone has to keep an eye on her at all times."

The Doctor smiled to herself.

"Alright. I'll be right here," she promised.

The Doctor took a seat in a chair in the corner and kept careful watch. She mainly kept an eye out for the highly unlikely chance that the Master would unconsciously move in a way that put the child in danger as he slept.

However, he never did. He remained on his back, and very quickly fell asleep.

He stayed that way, safe and sound, for a good many hours- as did the baby curled up close to him.

The Doctor sighed as she looked over him from the side of the room, the child directly in her sights.

She had almost forgotten that the Master could feel so strongly for others. And she _had_ , in fact, forgotten how much it hurt him to lose people. In that sense, she could almost understand why he became the way he was.

The Last Gallifreyan, being taken care of by the person who had made it that way.

Or, conversely, The Last Gallifreyan, rescued by the only other of her kind.

Regardless, the Master would move heaven and hell for that kid- and the Doctor certainly wasn't going to find out what happens to anyone who stands in his way.

**Author's Note:**

> I am soft. And I cried like 4 different times while writing this lol X)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it! Kudos and comments are always appreciated <3


End file.
